small hut on old peak road

Sat, 09/24/2022 - 17:28

I wonder what that little hut was used for. We have passed that section so many times. Thank you very much.

Date picture taken
unknown

Comments

It’s a long time ago but I wonder if that was a telephone cable hut, where cables were terminated and connected.  As it was some 48 years ago, the memory is sketchy but these were all over the place.

 

I agree with Mark. Most likely a cable box. Although for such a large concrete structure it might have contained other plant equipment such as a water pump to increase the water pressure supplied to premises erected on high hills.

I remember boxes all over the place with not only telephone cables but also radio  and television coaxial cables installed by the Rediffusion Company, which had some 60,000 subscribers for their "piped" TV before the days of free to air TV broadcasts.  The sound of your TV sets in these days remained on all day ( with piped music) even though the TV set itself was not switched on . 

Are there any signs of water pipes or metal cable conduit pipes remaining inside the hut  ? (most likely at floor level) 

 

 

 

 

Thank you Chinarail.  I also remember the doors opened outwards, most were either black or green and had a number on them.  If there is a channel in the floor, that’s the cable entry point.

Two other things, one had the cable box upside down and instead of the lid hanging down by the hinge at the bottom, you had to stand with it on your head - if it rained, you were wet and you got the occasional tweak through you as the power discharge.

the main fault control on the Island in Victoria Barracks had a system with a capacitor tester, we could tell in most cases, which cable hut to visit and given the age of some of the cables, we just knew as the fault was communicated.

Thank you so much for all your information. Its amazing. I always thought these have been used specially during the Japanese invasion. Thank you and best regards,   Daniel

Daniel, you are welcome.

Strangely enough, given that WW2 had been over for 30 years in 1975 when I arrived, I was surprised to work on a Japanese telephone cable…. The network was a real mix and match.